Honda’s Pedrosa claims win at Spanish Moto GP

AFP, JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain

Mon, May 06, 2013 - Page 20

Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa gained his first win of the season yesterday taking the Spanish MotoGP. The Honda rider came home clear of teammate Marc Marquez, while defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo was third on a Yamaha.

Marquez, who went top of the standings on 61 points three ahead of Pedrosa and four of Lorenzo, once again showed his class at just 20-years-old as he passed Lorenzo on the final bend for second spot.

However, it left Lorenzo furious as they came together on the bend and he refused to accept Marquez’s apology immediately afterwards.

Lorenzo was diplomatic once he dismounted from his bike.

“I prefer not to comment on that. I would rather talk about my race,” Lorenzo said. “It was a perfect race for my bike and the team. I am pretty sore about what happened, but I prefer not to make any further comment.”

Marquez accepted that he had been in the wrong.

“I wanted to say sorry to Jorge, but it wasn’t possible,” Marquez said.

“Sure if I had been him I would be angry, but I entered the last lap and I knew that I could pass him and so I went for it,” he said.

Pedrosa was delighted to have broken his duck for the season.

“It was a good race and I am delighted to have got a win under my belt,” Pedrosa said.

“Jorge was very strong, but once I got past him I let myself establish a decent lead and then eased off as I didn’t want to destroy my tires,” he said.

Lorenzo produced a great maneuver after losing first place on the first corner, coming on the inside to pass Pedrosa on the first lap.

Valentino Rossi too was in sparkling form on the first lap, overtaking Marquez, but the young rider displayed his class by reclaiming third spot on the second lap.

Pedrosa took the lead with a neat pass of Lorenzo with 22 laps to go while Marquez put some space between himself and Rossi.

Marquez upped the pressure on Lorenzo by hanging onto his wheel, attempting to pass him on several occasions, with the older rider having to draw on all his experience to hold him off.

Oblivious to this Pedrosa established a lead of over two seconds on them and seemed to be well set for a comfortable victory.

However, even though Lorenzo was being hounded by Marquez, it didn’t stop him from closing on Pedrosa.

His lead was slashed by a second with two laps remaining, but it was enough in the end as the real drama unfolded between his two compatriots.